The short one is no, there’s no empirical evidence to prove or disprove possibility of a consciousness existing outside of a human body.
That’s not to say that research hasn’t been done, however. The studies that I’ve heard of (I don’t have names and dates for the studies so take what I say with a grain of salt) have focused primarily on studying the way the mind functions during what the test subjects describe as out of body experiences. These studies have indicated the mind entering in a dreamlike or trance like state with similar parts of the brain lighting up as though the subject had entered R.E.M. sleep. To my knowledge the methods to test this state of being was transcendental meditation, hypnosis, and drug induced effect, primarily LSD.

I’m going to repeat, 90% of this is pure speculation. Like I mentioned I don’t have names and dates for the studies, and I have a highly over active imagination. So, a grain of salt it is.

Now, there’s another end to this spectrum. We have “evidence” in the form of personal experiences. Mabey not a common occurrence, but the group you’re looking for are Buddhist monks. Specifically those who practice transcendental meditation. This is a form of meditation with the sole purpose of being able to remove the conscious mind from the physical body and transporting it to the astral plane. The astral plane is the space that fills in the holes between this world and the next.

From there things become less and less structured. It stops being the metaphysical and becomes the paranormal. The search for ghosts, to prove ghosts exist, is not only a way of proving there is an afterlife, but it can also double as seeking out a consciousness that has no human form. For what is a ghost if it’s not a soul, and the soul is made up of the human consciousness.

There are other examples. Reports of bilocation, being in two places at once, and out of body experiences where you’re either transported to heaven or hell. There are simple reports of an out of body experience being your consciousness standing off to one side while the body goes on and does its thing.

None of this is proof of the conscious mind existing outside of the body. It could be that these people tap into the mainline of the subconscious and the dreaming world. So, to round things out: No, there’s no hard empirical data on whether or not a consciousness can exist outside of a physical body. There is anecdotal evidence it is possible.

If this is something you want to do further research into, I would suggest going the path of transcendental meditation. That seems to be the only “proven” way to induce an out of body experience.

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I’ve held you in my arms before
Long did we sit beside that door
Plastic pipes, artificial air
Tragic cuts to skin and hair

I’ve held you in my arms before
Your heart was beating, bleeding, broken and sore
Yet clung do life you did so
And told me how I ought to go

I’ve held you in my arms before
Long did we sit beside that door
Sirens blaring through the night
Boxes beeping with bright light

I’ve held you in my arms before
My arms held tight, you wanted to soar
With angels wings high in the air
The devil lost sight, you did not care

I’ve held you in my arms before
Then I let you go to see you soar
Now I’m waiting beside the door
For you’re not free of me evermore

We all must sit beside the door
I must sit and wait for you
Beyond the door lies heaven and hell
Beyond the door where your soul sets sail

***Author’s Note***

I wrote this one around the same time I wrote For My Grandma. The inspiration had been a friend who had been through a bad car wreck, and spent several days on life support. The speaker in the poem is supposed to be representative of death, and the door is naturally a metaphor for the thin line between our world and the next. And, something more along those lines XD I’ll let ya’ll decide how you read it.

Just to make a short note, I am writing this post on Monday the 7th, so the intention to write a post and submit it is still there. But, I’m having a little technological issue.

In other words, I forgot my phone at home. >.>

So, it’s likely you won’t see this post until Tuesday, even though I’m going to make an attempt to remember to post it as soon as I get home from work. The best laid plans of mice and men, though.

Anyway, on another topic, I did straight up forget to post on Sunday. I’d had such a good streak going, and then a day of World of Warcraft and homework messed it all up. I even thought about making the post about halfway through the day. It was one of those passing passive thoughts though. Not one where I was like: Yeah! We should do this! Do it! Do it! Do it! Shia LeBouf did not knock down my door and start yelling angry motivational things at me. That didn’t happen, and it’s not like I put forth any effort to make the thought happen.

But, that takes us right around to the topic I did want to discuss today: Self Deprecation

If you’ve ever heard the adage “you are your own worst critic”, self deprecation takes that statement a step farther. “You are your own worst enemy.” When you self deprecate nothing anybody else ever says is going to be worse than what you say to yourself. In fact, those things other people say become fuel to the fires of your self loathing. It doesn’t matter if those are nice things are not, to the mind of someone self deprecating those words will be twisted into a knife.

“I like your hair,” becomes “My hair must look horrible if she’s saying that. She can’t mean that my hair is really nice. My hair is never nice. I bet I have a mega cow lick in the back, and now that she’s out of ear shot she’s laughing her head off at me. My hair sucks. My life sucks. Everything just f***ing sucks.”

You might think this is me exaggerating to make a point. I’m not. Being someone who deals with this sort of thinking every single day I can vouch for the verisimilitude of the thought process.

The effects of this thinking are far more widespread than just making you feel bad for a little while. This type of thinking can absolutely destroy your entire life, hurting not only you, but everybody around you.

Self deprecative thoughts can be started by the simplest thing. “Oh I got a B on that exam, I ruined my perfect 4.0, I’m a total failure.” “Why do those boys keep making fun of me? Is there something wrong with me?” And, 9 times out of 10 this either stems from low self esteem, or it creates low self esteem. The two are basically hand in hand.

Self deprecation can also come alongside a wide array of mental disorders: chronic and seasonal depression, bi-polar disorder, OCD, borderline personality disorder just to name a few. Mania should most likely be in there as well. I’m not a medical expert however, so take what I say in relation to this with a grain of salt.

Now, to get down to the point and discuss what the most destructive part of self deprecation: The Cycle of Failure.

And, the Cycle of Failure is something we shall discuss on the morrow.

I would also like to give a shout out to Iain Kelly, Austin L. Wiggins, and semiprowriter. Thank you for the follow, and I hope you enjoy the show.

And, if you enjoy the show, and want to keep seeing more of Mr. Kinsgrove, please remember to follow the blog, then like and share it on all of your social media platforms.